A Logical Defense of the Endless ‘Saw’ Series

I’m growing tired of the chorus of people crying about how the Saw series needs to die. I thought I was alone in this, but someone over at HorrorSquad shares my beliefs, and wrote a rather interesting defense of the films, part of which I’d like to share.

It’s a Serial!

The massively popular, horror-centric, and entirely silly True Blood is discussed like it’s the reinvention of the vampire. (It’s not. But it’s good.) So far there have been 24 60-minute episodes of True Blood, which equals 1,440 minutes. By comparison the first five Saw films equal about 475 minutes. My point is this: Why should we hear cries of “enough!” on one and “ooooh, more please!” on another? Do the horror geeks not deserve their own equivalent of an “unending” soap opera? Is it fair that people bemoan a Saw 6 yet sit down for General Hospital … every day for 15 years??

So yeah, it’s like a long running TV show that doesn’t get canceled because frankly, tons of people are still tuning in. If you could make a movie that cost under $10M and was guaranteed to make $100M, you’d never stop doing it either, which is the next point the writer makes in his article. Go here to read the rest.

About The Author

Paul

I think I’m a part of the first generation of journalists to skip print media entirely, and I’ve learned a lot these last few years at Forbes. My work has appeared on TVOvermind, IGN, and most importantly, a segment on The Colbert Report at one point.

Madison

I , uh, I can’t argue with that logic.

SirEdward

Yeah, that’s been my argument since the beginning (of the sequels).

Comic books go on for years and years. Soap Operas don’t end. So why do horror movie franchises have to?

The Saw movies aren’t the best movies ever, and by far, but I still watch them. It’s just become a Halloween ritual for me. They’re not scary movies, but they try, and it’s just good fun.

biohazrd

It’s not the movies people are annoyed with it’s the marketing.

Illustro Cado

The medium makes a difference. True Blood is based on a series of novels which number in the double digits, and a TV show tells a much more intricate story due to looser time constraints. A movie needs to be concise. It has to pack the most important bits into a couple hours and cut the fat. After a while, entire sequels begin to feel like fat.

To be fair, it can happen in any medium. Soap operas suck for that reason. True Blood will start to suck if there’s no reason to keep the story going for however long the show runs.

Saw movies must still be making a profit. That says nothing of their merit, but in this industry dollars matter more. Simply put, if you don’t like it, don’t see it and don’t talk about it (it just gives it more free press).